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“Brilliant” Ambulance Care Recognised With Donation To TASC

Friends and family of a former sports journalist have raised nearly £300 in aid of TASC, The Ambulance Staff Charity in recognition of the “brilliant” care he received from ambulance personnel.

TASC has gratefully received a donation of £270 in memory of the late Neville Bolton, who sadly passed away following a cardiac arrest at his home in January.

Ambulance crews had fought to save him after he collapsed in the side garden of his home in Preston, Lancashire, while Storm Eleanor raged with strong winds and torrential rain.
Paramedics and other ambulance staff had also been regular visitors to the house to treat Mr Bolton, who was aged 75, following falls due to his vascular dementia over recent years.

Mrs Andrea Bolton, who celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary with Neville last year, said: “He had vascular dementia and had problems with his mobility and balance, so he had frequent falls over the years, including outside and down the stairs. So we had to call the ambulance out so many times during the last few years and they were always brilliant.”

Mrs Bolton, 72, who has a son James, daughter Nicola, and eight grandchildren, said Neville had gone outside into the side garden when he suddenly collapsed.

She said: “He just keeled over without any warning. He was unresponsive so I called the ambulance. A paramedic came and then an ambulance. It was during Storm Eleanor so it was very wet. The ambulance staff were soaked to the skin, absolutely drenched, but they kept working on him. I couldn’t believe it, they were absolutely like drowned rats.”

Neville, who worked as a sports editor at the Manchester Evening News until a triple heart by-pass led to early retirement in 1996, was taken to the nearby Royal Preston Hospital but could not be revived.

Added Mrs Bolton: ““The whole family were amazed that the ambulance staff continued to try to resuscitate him despite the rain. So, when it came to arrange the funeral we decided that, of all the people he was involved with, the ambulance service had helped the most over the last few years. My son went online and found out about TASC, so we asked for donations to the charity in lieu of flowers.”

For more information about TASC please visit: www.theasc.org.uk or call 0247 7987 922.
TASC is also available on Twitter at @TASCharity and on Facebook at @TASC The Ambulance Staff Charity.